


Intuition

by yourecool



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: AU, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Magic Worldbuilding, One Shot, Sky Magic, Tdp Season 3 episode 3 “ghost”, Titled this intuition cause I don’t know what to call it, callum has spider sense basically, is that a thing?, they find runaan’s flower
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-06
Updated: 2020-03-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:02:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23033659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourecool/pseuds/yourecool
Summary: Callum blinks.The water is dark. He can faintly make out the outlines of some of the sunken flowers, but not much else. He must have imagined—Something in the water faintly glows for a few brief seconds, and then the light fades out.
Relationships: Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Ethari/Runaan (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 120





	Intuition

“This is it. The silver grove.”

Rayla spreads her arms out wide with a smile, vibrant and obviously excited to be home.

“Wow.” Callum breathes.

“Isn’t it amazing?” Rayla says, glee evident in her voice.

Rayla takes him by the arm and they dash the rest of the way down the massive tree trunk together, Zym close behind.

She eagerly leads Callum and Zym through the moonshadow elf village. He can’t help but be caught up in her enthusiasm and excitement as she tells him about moonberry surprise, excitedly chattering about all the things she wants to show him. As he follows along he twists to gaze all around him, eyes wide, trying to take everything in at once. He almost trips over Zym and right into Rayla because he’s looking everywhere except where he’s going. But there’s just so much to see that he’s never ever seen before, from the strange foreign plants to the delicately spiraling silver staircase wrapped around the trunk of a great oak tree, and _how did they even do that?_

  
However, when the overwhelming excitement of being in an _actual, real live Elf Village_ for the first time fades and his thoughts start to settle, he realizes suddenly how cold it is in the village. It had been so warm just a few seconds ago, it’s a little startling.

Something is nagging at him, grating against the edge of his senses—a chill running up his spine, goosebumps prickling down his arms. Rayla seems fine up ahead, so maybe it’s just nerves, he reassures himself. He anxiously reaches up to check that his ‘horns’ are still in place, and darts a nervous glance at the moonshadow elves around him.  
No one has noticed he’s human, righ—? 

The features of the elves around him are absent, their faces wiped clean of any expression. They have no eyes, no mouths, no noses, no _nothing_.

Callums blood runs cold.

Rayla continues on obliviously up ahead, “I can show you where I grew up, where I went to school, and—“

Callum runs back to her and grabs at her shoulder. 

“Rayla,” he hisses,

“Something’s wrong.”

“What is it?”

He points, and Rayla turns.

“They have no faces.” 

Rayla freezes for a moment, staring at the elves walking past with wide eyes. Then her hands fly up to cover her mouth, and she backs away in horror.

“Oh no,” she breathes, “ _Oh no._ ”

“What’s happening?” Callum asks, trying not to panic, “What’s wrong with them??”

But Rayla realized something, and shakes her head, suddenly unable to meet Callum’s eyes. “It’s not them.” She explains, “it’s me. I’m…. a ghost.”

Zym whines from where he’s perched on Callum’s shoulder, as if he’s agreeing.

Wide eyed and confused, Callum rubs at his arms, trying to bring warmth back to them.

”A ghost?”

____________

“I don’t get it.” Callum frowns.

“They made me a ghost,” Rayla explains, hanging her head. “its like being magically banished.”

She hesitates, then adds “it’s what happened to my parents when they abandoned the Dragon Guard.” She hunches in on herself, folding her arms. She has that same expression on her face that she always gets when someone brings up her parents—full of utter shame. Callum hates that look.

“And now it’s happened to me.” She sounds defeated.

“But—you didn’t run away from anything! They just don’t know what happened!” Callum reasons. Rayla is one of the bravest people he’s met, he knows she would never run from a battle.

Rayla sighs. For a second she looks like she’s about to give up, and Callum’s breath catches in his throat. But then Hope sparks up in her eyes, and she straightens.

“...yeah. Yeah! It has to be a mistake.” She smiles, shoulders relaxing. “Come on! There’s one person who will understand.”

She leads Callum up The spiral steps, towards what looks like a forge at the top . Despite their situation, Callum takes a moment to marvel at elf magic—the steps don’t seem to be supported by anything!

“Remember Runaan?” Rayla asks, as Callum pauses in his admiring the view to help Zym stay balanced on his shoulder.

“The leader of the assassins?”

”Uh, I think so.” Callum replies. _I didn’t really catch the names of every person trying to kill me.  
_ ”Tall? Pointy? ...aimed a bow at me?” He gestures with his hands as he describes the man.

At Rayla’s nod, he continues, “mhmm. He seemed nice.”

Rayla doesn’t seem to catch the sarcasm.

“When my parents joined the dragon guard, I went to live with Runaan and his husband Ethari. They were my parent’s best friends, and they took care of me for years.” Rayla smiled fondly, reminiscing. “We’re going to meet Ethari.”

They reach the top of the stairs, and are greeted by a pair of ornately carved silver doors.

“Will he be able to see you?” Callum asked worriedly. 

“He wouldn’t have done the spell. He always had faith in me.”

Callum exchanges a nervous glance with Zym as Rayla pulls the doors open.

“Ethari! It’s me! I’m so glad you’re here!” She calls as she walks in. Callum and Zym follow her, looking around. They’re in a forge, but it’s nothing like any forge Callum’s ever seen. It’s wide and spacious, and there are barely any tools; and of the ones Callum can see, he can barely begin to guess at their purpose. They’re vastly different from the tools he’s seen the castle smiths using.

“There’s been a mistake. They’ve made me a ghost!” Rayla pleads with Ethari. “But you have to tell them, I didn’t run away!”

There is a long pause. Callum absently touches a hand to the hairs rising on his arm and wonders if it’s just his imagination making it seem as if his breath is fogging out in front of him. He doesn’t like how cold the room feels. Forges are supposed to be _warm_.

Then a shudder runs down his spine and somehow, he just knows. He _knows_ what they’re about to see, and his heart drops like a stone because _oh no._ “Ethari?” Rayla asks, doubt trickling into her voice.

The elf turns around.

His face is as blank as all of the other elves down in the village below. 

He had done the spell, after all.

Rayla’s horrified gasp echoes strangely through the ringing in Callum’s ears.

“No, Ethari… not you too.” she says, falling to her knees. Zym whimpers somewhere by Callum’s feet. Callum, for his part, is struggling not to just go up and punch the elf. Instead, he focuses on comforting Rayla.

“This isn’t fair.” He protests,“There has to be a way to get his attention.”

He walks over to where the elf is obliviously tinkering away at his desk. “Hey.” He snaps. “Ethari, was it?” He waves his hand in front of the guy’s face. “You didn’t even give Rayla a chance to explain herself.”

Rayla sighs. “Callum, it’s no use—“

“Listen to me!” Callum shouts, pounding on the table. “Rayla doesn’t deserve this!” Ethari inspects a sword on the table, not reacting at all to his presence. He should have at least felt the table jolt, right??

Ethari stands up suddenly, sending the workbench toppling over.

Callum steps back in surprise.

“I think it worked.” He says to Rayla, who looks from him to Ethari, wide eyed. 

Rayla looks at the sword. Reflected in the metal, she can see herself—and Ethari’s familiar face, his eyes fixed on her form. Their eyes meet.

“The reflection!” She gasps. “He can see me. Yeah, I’m… here.” Rayla steps forward. “I’m right here. Surprised to see my face?”

Ethari closes his eyes.

“Can he hear you?” Callum asks.

“...no.” Rayla grumbles. She looks away briefly, then looks back, straightening.

“But he can see how I feel.”

She glares at Ethari through the reflection.

“Rayla.” Ethari says.

She jumps.

Callum wants to punch _himself_ in the face now, for finding that at all funny when the situation is so serious.

“Before you left, I told Runaan that you were too goodhearted for the life of an assassin. So I know you did not betray them out of malice.”

Rayla is silent.

“But that doesn’t matter.” Ethari says.

He bangs the sword down on the table suddenly, unable to look at her any longer. Rayla and callum flinch at the sudden noise.

“They’re gone. _He’s_ gone. Because _you_ abandoned them.” Ethari growls. 

Rayla looks like she wants to cry.

Callum wants to punch Ethari in the face again.

Ethari walks off, to another part of the forge. 

Rayla clenches her fists, shaking, and then runs out the door.

——

Callum finds Rayla chucking rocks into a pool at the bottom of the stairs after the disastrous confrontation with Ethari.

“I understand now.” She says as he approaches. “They didn’t make it. None of them. Only me.”

“How do you know that?” Callum asks.

She gestures out at the pool of water, empty save for a few scattered lily pads and a single, floating metal flower, with a glowing jewel encrusted in the center like a star. Small and lonely, it drifts in a meandering path across the pool.

“When assassins are sent on a dangerous mission, Ethari enchants one of these flowers for each of them.” She explains.

“...As long as the assassin lives and breathes, their flower floats.”

Callum looks at her. Her hands ball up into fists. Tension lines her face.

He connects the dots. “So when all the others sank… and yours didn’t..” 

“They thought I ran away. Just like my parents.” Rayla says.

“But you didn’t run. They have it all wrong!”

Rayla sighs, standing.

“Does it matter?”

She chucks a stone at her still floating flower, missing by only a few centimeters.

Footsteps sound behind Callum. He turns around, startled. Rayla, caught up in trying to knock down her flower, doesn’t notice as Ethari approaches. 

Callum watches him cautiously as he searches for Rayla’s reflection in the water, but all he does is stand there, letting her notice him before doing anything. When she finally does, it’s made evident right away—she bolts upright with a gasp.

Ethari holds out his hand. After a moment of hesitation, Rayla takes it. Light bursts from their joined hands, and Callum jumps before recognizing it as Ethari casting a spell. He watches, fascinated despite himself, as Ethari’s facial features fade back in, sharpening into clarity.

Ethari’s spell sends a visible shockwave of magic rolling outwards. As it passes Callum warmth courses through his body, banishing the cold chill. The feeling sort of fades a bit after the wave has passed, but heat still lingers in his chest. To feel warm again is such a relief, and he sighs contentedly despite himself, relaxing into the warmth.

Once the spell has ended, Ethari exhales, and he looks at Rayla, finally.

“There you are.” He says, unable to hide the fondness in his eyes. 

A grin spreads across Rayla’s face, and she hugs him.

Ethari returns it with a wry smile. 

“You know, I was never quite as strong as the others.” He admits quietly.

Callum thinks back to the one sided conversation in the forge. If that’s what strength is, then he never wants to be strong.

_____

Ethari decides to give Rayla a chance to explain herself-Callum is glad of this fact, although it hurts his heart to hear the pain and guilt in her voice, and see it so plainly on her face.  
He wants to give her a hug or say something, but he’s scared he might mess up and end up saying something thoughtless and ignorant that only makes things worse. Instead he just sort of meanders awkwardly in the background, keeping Zym company and trying not to seem as if he’s eavesdropping as she and Ethari talk.

He notices after a little while that the heat in his chest is starting to fade. The tips of his fingers feel colder. Ethari had mentioned earlier that the spell would fade soon, hadn’t he? 

Curious, Callum presses his fingertips to his upper arm. His skin is hot to the touch, but his fingers feel like ice.

“Huh.”

He rubs his arms as warmth seeps from them, now only half listening to Rayla’s conversation. The chill has progressed to his shoulders. 

There’s a faint prickling sensation at the back of his neck. He rubs absently at the spot, tilting his head to the side so he can reach better, and lets his eyes wander. 

Light catches his vision and he loses his train of thought.

Callum blinks.

The water is dark. He can faintly make out the outlines of some of the sunken flowers, but not much else. He must have imagined—

Something in the water faintly glows for a few brief seconds, and then the light fades out. 

Darkness again. 

Then light flairs into existence once more.

Darkness again.

Light.

Callum stares kind of dumbly for a few moments, mind blanking. ‘There’s a blinking light in the water.’ Is his first thought. He takes a moment to process that. 

‘Oh, It’s coming from one of the flowers.’ He realizes after a bit.

‘Huh. That one looks a bit bigger than the others. Is it closer than they…’

Realization strikes like lightning, and Callum freezes.

“Rayla.” He says, eyes wide, heart racing. “Rayla come over here right now you need to see this.”

Rayla frowns worriedly, sensing the urgency in his voice. “Alright? Er, is something wrong?” She hurries over, Ethari following after her. Oops, Callum should have called him too probably but he’s coming anyways so it’s fine. 

“Rayla, look at the water. You see that, right?”

She examines the pool.

“What, the flower? Callum, I told you already what that’s for.“

“No,”

Callum points.

“The blinking light. In the water. Is that—?”

Before he can finish, there’s a loud splash as Ethari dives headfirst into the pool. Rayla and Callum both get drenched from head to toe, but neither really notice.

Ethari resurfaces after a minute, completely soaked and holding a rusted metal flower in trembling hands. A gem in the center emits a soft glow that fades in and out. Ethari is staring at it as if it’s the only thing that exists. 

Before Rayla can even ask, he answers. 

“It’s him.” 

“Ruunan, really? You’re sure?”

“Yes.”

He tears his eyes from the flower to look towards Callum and Rayla, expression scared and disbelieving and hopeful all at once. 

“He’s alive.”

And Rayla bursts out laughing, loud and joyous and relieved. She scoops Callum into a hug and spins him around and whoops with glee.

Callum is stuck in a daze. 

He’s unfamiliar with the history between Ruunan and Rayla, or Rayla and Ethari. He’s not sure how he feels about Ruunan, truthfully. He’d only met him once, under what were not exactly the best circumstances. 

(...He can’t help but wonder if Ruunan was the one who did it. If it was painless or not. If he’d felt guilty.)

But he knows that there are elves out there who have lost their parents to Harrow’s blade, just as he lost his dad to Ruunan’s. He knows hatred solves nothing. He knows what Ruunan meant to Rayla. So he focuses on Ethari, who is thanking him with a wobbly smile, on Zym, prancing around excitedly and purring up a storm, and on Rayla, crying and grinning, wider than he’s ever seen before, and even as dazed as he is right now, he can’t help but feel proud to have put that smile on her face. 


End file.
